Abstract
Abstract Viruses are a major threat causing massive yield loss and economical damage to crop production worldwide. Through complex evolutionary processes, plants encounter and overcome viral infection by developing effective resistance mechanisms. Over the past decade, remarkable progress has been made in understanding the nature of plant resistance to viruses at the molecular level. This review summarizes the major resistance strategies that plants use to prevent viral infection. Recent investigations suggest that antiviral RNA silencing is the most prevalent defense strategy in plants. Other forms of resistance include R gene-mediated resistance and host factor-related recessive resistance. Naturally occurring resistances arise and are maintained in numerous virus-plant pathosystems based mainly on arms-race relationships and the cost-efficiency of resistance acquisition. In addition to the current status of the known resistance mechanisms, this review discusses the future prospectus for the practical application of plant resistances that influence resistance durability in agricultural ecosystems. Such applications include molecular breeding strategies using advanced molecular marker systems and the utilization of trans- or cis- genetics via the acquisition of engineered disease resistances.
Highlights
Viral diseases are one of the major factors threatening crop production worldwide
Because viruses are intracellular parasites consisting of a small RNA or DNA genome packed in a capsid, the RNA silencing strategy is considered as a major antiviral mechanism (Smyth, 1999; Nakahara and Masuta, 2014; Rodriguez et al, 2015)
Resistance with recessive inheritance, mostly acquired via the alteration of key host factors required for the viral infection cycle, is recognized as an effective antiviral resistance mechanism (Robaglia and Caranta, 2006)
Summary
Viral diseases are one of the major factors threatening crop production worldwide. It is estimated that about 15% of global crop production is lost due to various plant diseases, and phytopathogenic viruses are thought to cause more than one third of plant diseases (Boualem et al, 2016). Natural variation in eIF4E preventing viral sequestration confers effective resistance to potyvirus infection in multiple crop species, suggesting that the alteration of host factors such as translation-initiation factors is a common strategy for developing viral resistance in plants (Schaad et al 2000; Yeam et al, 2007; Cavatorta et al, 2008) Those factors include pvr (pvr2) in pepper, mo in lettuce, sbm in pea, rym4/5 in barley, pot in tomato, and zym-FL in watermelon (Gao et al, 2004; Ling et al, 2009; Nicaise et al, 2003; Ruffel et al, 2002; Kang et al, 2005a; Wicker et al, 2005). Together with molecular insights into the mechanisms of R genes, progress in gene editing utilizing transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALEN) and clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPRs) (Gaj et al, 2013; Gao and Zhao, 2014) might accelerate the genetic engineering of plant R genes or susceptible factors in the near future
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
